Golf swing training apparatus capable of returning golf balls

ABSTRACT

A swing training apparatus includes an upright target portion and a ball capturing net. The target portion has a hit surface to be hit by golf balls. The hit surface has at least one ball inlet to receive the golf balls and a ball outlet at a lower section of the target portion. The ball capturing net is fastened to a side of the target portion to form a ball collection space therebetween. The ball collection space communicates with the ball inlet and ball outlet. The ball capturing net includes a ball guide slope leading to the ball outlet to direct the golf balls to leave the ball collection space through the ball outlet. Hence once the golf balls enter the ball inlet they can be retrieved easily for swing practice again without users going to the swing training apparatus to fetch the golf balls.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a golf swing training apparatus and particularly to a swing training apparatus capable of returning golf balls upon hitting targets during swing practice.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With increased promotion by golf business and influences of golf tournaments shown in electronic media and broadcasting, population of golf sport grows constantly in recent years and golf thus becomes a fashionable recreational sport. To most golf rookies, playing golf at golf courses still is quite expensive. Hence many golf amateurs or enthusiasts prefer buying a golf training apparatus to practice at home or in a public exercise field.

There are a wide variety of golf swing training apparatuses now available on the market. For instance, R.O.C. patent No. 586442 discloses a golf virtual simulation practice apparatus. It includes an upper rack, a lower rack, a protective net, a distance measurement instrument and a control unit. The upper rack and lower rack are coupled together. The protective net and the distance measurement instrument are located in front of the lower rack. The control unit is located at one side of the upper rack. The protective net holds a target to facilitate swing exercise of users. The distance measurement instrument can measure the speed of the golf ball at the instant of striking and convert the speed to a flying distance. The control unit controls the upper and lower racks to change the gradient and height of a manmade turf. During user's swing exercise if the golf ball hits the target it is captured by the protective net and drops inside. After the exercise is finished, the user has to pick up each of the golf balls gathered in the protective net for reuse. Such a structure and practice leaves a lot to be desired in terms of practicality and usability.

R.O.C. patent No. 299653 also provides a training net aiming to accurately measure dropping distances of golf balls. It includes a rack, a capturing net, a target net and a ball striking base. The capturing net is fastened to the rack. The target net is annular and held in the center of the capturing net. The target net includes an inner net, a middle net and an outer net to hold balls hitting thereon to serve as targets for striking. P.R.C patent No. CN2390644Y also discloses a movable golf simulation recreation apparatus. It includes a base pad, a turf carpet, a front capturing net and a lateral capturing net. The base pad consists of a plurality of jutting pads and flat pads coupled together. The turf carpet is laid on the base pad to form a putting green. The front capturing net and the lateral capturing net are connected to the circumference of the base pad. The front capturing net further has an annular target located thereon consisting of three sets of coaxial target rings linked to a ball pouch. The ball pouch communicates with a ball collection box through a ball channeling duct.

Although the two golf swing training apparatus mentioned above provide a ball pouch at the rear end of the target to hold the golf balls to prevent the balls from dropping randomly on the ground, after striking the balls users still have to go to the target location or other areas to collect the balls to continue the swing practice. A lot of walking to and fro takes place during the practice, or a great number of golf balls have to be provided to prevent interruption of the practice. This creates a lot of troubles in movement and carrying

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore the primary object of the present invention is to provide a golf swing training apparatus capable of returning golf balls upon hitting targets, so as to solve the problem of conventional training apparatus that users have to move to collect the golf balls which hit the target during swing exercise.

The golf swing training apparatus according to the invention includes a target portion and a ball capturing net. The target portion has a hit surface to be hit by golf ball. The hit surface contains at least one ball inlet to receive golf ball and a ball outlet at a lower section of the target portion. The ball capturing net is fastened to a side of the target portion opposite to the hit surface to form a ball collection space with the target portion. The ball collection space communicates with the ball inlet and ball outlet. The ball capturing net includes a ball guide slope in the ball collection space for receiving the golf ball, the ball guide slope connects to the ball outlet to direct the golf ball to leave the ball collection space through the ball outlet.

By means of the construction set forth above, the golf ball fell in the ball collection space can roll downwards over the ball guide slope due to gravity force and leave the ball collection space through the ball outlet. Thus once the golf ball is stroked by the users and enter the ball inlet they can roll back to the users without the users going to the swing training apparatus to fetch the golf balls.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the golf swing training apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the present invention in a use condition for a user to hitting a golf ball.

FIG. 2B is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the present invention in another use condition for a hit golf ball dropping in the ball collection space.

FIG. 2C is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the present invention in yet another use condition for a golf ball leaving the ball collection space through the ball guide slope.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the golf swing training apparatus of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2A for a first embodiment of the golf swing training apparatus of the present invention. The golf swing training apparatus comprises a target portion 10, a ball capturing net 20, a bracing rack 30, a pressure sensor 40 and a display 50, which is used for a user to strike a golf ball 60 to do swing practice. In this embodiment the target portion 10 is fixedly attached to the bracing rack 30 and mounted upright on the ground. The target portion 10 contains a hit surface 11 which has at least one ball inlet 12 to receive the golf ball 60 and a ball outlet 13 located at a lower section of the target portion 10. The ball inlet 12 can be served as a target for the user to practice its accuracy of striking the golf ball 60. The number, size and location of the ball inlet 12 may be varied according to user's different needs or practice distances to enhance appealing and challenge of the swing practice.

The target portion 10 has two sides attached respectively to a first ball fender 14 and a second ball fender 15 that are fastened to the bracing rack 30 and formed at an inclined angle with the target portion 10 so that they are jointly formed a ball gathering zone. In the event that the golf ball 60 stroked by the user does not enter the ball inlet 12 but hits the hit surface 11, it drops in the ball gathering zone. In this embodiment the ball capturing net 20 is a textile with mesh structures. It also can be made of other fabrics or a flexible material or the like according to requirements. The ball capturing net 20 is fastened to a side of the target portion 10 opposite to the hit surface 11 to form a ball collection space 70 therebetween. The golf ball 60 entering the ball inlet 12 drops in the ball collection space 70. The ball capturing net 20 further has a ball guide slope 21 located in the ball collection space 70 to receive the golf ball 60.

Also refer to FIGS. 2B and 2C for the first embodiment in use conditions. The bracing rack 30 further includes an ancillary rack 31. The ball capturing net 20 has a back end hung on an upper edge of the ancillary rack 31. The ball guide slope 21 is formed with a curved surface gradually shrunk towards the ball outlet 13. According to requirements, the ball capturing net 20 and the bracing rack 30 may also be formed and coupled in other manners. Consequently, the golf ball 60 dropped on the ball guide slope 21 will obtain a return driving force resulting from the gravity force, thus the golf ball 60 can leave from the ball collection space 70 through the ball outlet 13 to where the user strikes the golf ball 60.

In this embodiment the pressure sensor 40 is located at the bottom side of the ball capturing net 20 in a contact manner. The pressure sensor 40 is electrically connected to the display 50 which is located on an upper edge of the bracing rack 30. The pressure sensor 40 is a rectangular board to increase the contact area with the ball capturing net 20. It may also adopt another design such that when the golf ball 60 enters the ball inlet 12 and drops onto the ball capturing net 20 and rolls over the ball guide slope 21, it hits the pressure sensor 40 to output a ball entry signal to the display 50 to display the number of ball entry.

Refer to FIG. 3 for a second embodiment of the present invention. The ball outlet 13 is connected to a ball guide track 80 to direct the rolling golf ball 60 to move along a desired direction. The ball guide track 80 has an inclined surface to give the golf ball 60 a greater return driving force to roll to user's striking spot.

As a conclusion, the swing training apparatus of the present invention mainly provides the golf ball a sufficient return driving force through the ball guide slope in the ball collection space to enable the golf ball to roll through the ball outlet to where the user strikes the ball. Hence the user does not have to walk to the swing training apparatus to gather and fetch the golf ball dropped in the ball collection space and prevent waste of time and physical effort, and also improve practice efficiency. In addition, by forming the ball gathering zone through the target portion, first ball fender and second ball fender, the golf ball not entering the ball inlet are gathered in front of the target portion to make collection of the golf ball easier. Moreover, through the pressure sensor and display user can be immediately informed of the number of the golf ball entering the ball inlet to know the current practice status. The swing training apparatus of the present invention also adopts a simpler structure without complicated elements and can be fabricated and assembled quickly, and is especially desirable for use at home or be carried to public sites such as parks, schools and the like to make swing practice simpler.

In summation of the above description, the present invention provides a significant improvement over the conventional techniques and complies with the patent application requirements, and is submitted for review and granting of the commensurate patent rights.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 

1. A golf swing training apparatus capable of returning golf balls, comprising: an upright target portion including a hit surface to be hit by a golf ball, the hit surface containing at least one ball inlet to receive the golf ball and a ball outlet located at a lower section of the target portion; and a ball capturing net which is fastened to a side of the target portion opposite to the hit surface to form a ball collection space with the target portion, the ball collection space communicating with the ball inlet and the ball outlet, the ball capturing net including a ball guide slope in the ball collection space for receiving the golf ball, the ball guide slope being connected to the ball outlet to direct the golf ball to leave the ball collection space through the ball outlet.
 2. The golf swing training apparatus of claim 1 further including a pressure sensor which is located under the ball collection space and electrically connected to a display, the display receiving a ball entry signal from the pressure sensor to display a ball entry number.
 3. The golf swing training apparatus of claim 1 further including a ball guide track connecting to the ball outlet to direct the golf ball to move along a desired direction.
 4. The golf swing training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the target portion is attached to a bracing rack.
 5. The golf swing training apparatus of claim 4, wherein the bracing rack includes an ancillary rack to fasten the ball capturing net.
 6. The golf swing training apparatus of claim 4, wherein the target portion has two sides attached respectively to a first ball fender and a second ball fender fastened to the bracing rack.
 7. The golf swing training apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first ball fender and the second ball fender form respectively an inclined angle with the target portion.
 8. The golf swing training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ball capturing net is a textile with mesh structures. 